Nepalese Monkey Farming

I think Mukesh Chalise has a point. On the internet this article I found from the Stop Monkey Business Campaign:

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Animal rights groups shocked by high death rate

of lab monkeys

14-12-2008 – Stop Monkey Business Campaign, Nepal (12-12-2008)

Kathmandu - The Animal Welfare Network Nepal and Stop Monkey Business Campaign are shocked by the high death rate among rhesus monkeys destined for US laboratories at a Lele breeding centre. In 2008, out of 310 captive monkeys at least 30 were deemed unfit and euthanized. An exceptional high percentage, 10 %, died a 'natural death'.

The animal welfare groups call for an immediate halt of the breeding and export of rhesus monkeys.

The details about the high death rate among captive monkeys comes at a time when the government has actually stated it will not export rhesus monkeys. In a letter addressed to Swiss animal rights groups former Director General Dr Annapurna Das of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation in August informed that the Wildlife Breeding Policy 'does not include any clause for the export of rhesus monkeys in order to use in biomedical research'. According to Das the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation decided on June 20, 2008, 'not to export rhesus monkeys for biomedical research' [1]. Lately however newspaper write ups have suggested that 25 rhesus monkeys will be exported to the US soon.

Findings from a 2008 Progress Report by a Texas-based biomedical research centre learn that even more Nepalese monkeys will be captured for biomedical and bio-warfare research.
The Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research supports a monkey breeding centre in Lele, Lalitpur District, operated by the National Biomedical Research Center. The centre houses 310 monkeys of which 210 have been captured and 105 were born in captivity. The Nepal project receives an annual budget of US$ 650.000 from the US government.

According to the progress report out of 310 monkeys 133 are infected with various diseases. In March 22 wild and 6 captive born monkeys were euthanized because they suffered from TB. Other monkeys suffer from Herpes-B, a common infectious disease that in the wild is harmless but in captive monkeys suffering from stress results in cold sores. Others are infected with Simian Retro Virus (SRV). According to the report any infected Nepalese monkey arriving in the US will immediately be euthanized. The Lele project plans to trap another 30 wild monkeys in the coming year.

The Animal Welfare Network Nepal and Stop Monkey Business Campaign are deeply concerned about the fate of Nepal's rhesus monkeys and call for an immediate ban on the capturing and breeding of primates for research in the US and rehabilitation of the captive monkeys.

In 2003 Nepal introduced the Wildlife Farming Reproduction and Research Working Policy which cleared the path for the breeding of rhesus monkeys for biomedical research. Two US primate centers with their Nepalese partners received a license. A coalition of eight national animal welfare organizations firmly oppose this monkey business.

For more information and original documents:
Animal Welfare Network Nepal – http://www.awnnepal.blogspot.com/
Stop Monkey Business Campaign – http://www.stopmonkeybusiness.org/

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So, please join the campaign and struggle against the breeding and export of monkeys for research labs in the USA.

I think farmaing of monkey is not a bad partices but it is for the conservation point of view. I want to explore on importance of Monkey in Nepal

MONKEY ARE THE BEAUTY OF MANY TEMPLES
For example, Near the Pashupati temple, Vankali Forest is The main attractions for the people of kathmandu. Here are the hordes of Red monkeys that inhabit both the trees and the temple. These monkey are the heart of the forest. people come here to enjoy with nature and goddes. mostly childrens like monkey.
Monkey did not disturbe you until you disturb them.
Visitors should be aware that these monkeys are attracted to shiny objects, foods, Fruits. cameras, jewellery should be left behind or well hidden under clothes or in a bag.

Manij Upadhyay
www.conservationnepal.webnode.com

Deal or No Deal!

Before deciding on final version during the re-writing of policy on wild animal farming in Nepal, it becomes essential to find out the possible result and their mitigation measures. There are no easy measures or alternatives which can abandon the discussion about animal use. Some of the findings from various researches reveal the following views which can be categorised into Deal and No Deal:

Deal!
1. Great apes - gorillas, chimpanzees and orang-utans - are no longer used in scientific experiments however monkeys’ are involved in research into new drugs, surgical procedures and vaccines.
2. Treatment to motor neuron disease, Alzheimer's and stroke needs to be experimented on monkeys without which the investigation would be impossible.
3. Key work in neurological and infectious diseases would be thrown away to save a relatively small number of animals.
No deal!
1. Banning monkeys’ experiments would concentrate scientists’ minds in finding the alternatives.
2. Animals are often subjected to invasive and painful procedures and are restricted to a lifetime of laboratory incarceration: thus it is increasingly unethical to pursue such inadequate "models" of human illness,’
3. Malaria vaccines have been developed and tested in monkeys’ but have all failed to generate immunity in humans.
4. Advances in medical imaging has made possible to study directly in humans without using monkeys.
5. All the animals are tested in developed countries.
From my point of view monkey is not an ordinary animal, I have perceived it as an incarnation of “Hanuman”. To support my religion I would say “no more death of any animal, it’s unethical”; supporting my profession, I would say “no destruction of ecosystem”. So it’s up to the government to decide on this matter by considering the real perception of Nepali citizen to avoid any worst consequences.